You Looked Beautiful
by Diana's Helper
Summary: Shortly after Cameron marries Chase and finds a new job, she is in a tragic accident that leaves her in a coma. Who better to take care of her than her exboss, of course? Rated for language, one shot with alternative ending, character death.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own House MD or any of the characters.

**Hey guys, thanks for bearing with me through the couple months I've been absent. This is for all of you who have favorited my previous works, or who just enjoy the HousexCameron pairing. Be sure to comment and tell me what you think, I've got an alternate ending in mind for this as well. If enough people comment, I'll post it up. )**

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You Looked Beautiful

There was an accident, and Doctor Gregory House knew that most things were by accident. This accident was heartbreaking, resulting in the coma of a young doctor- a promising immunologist. It shocked the community, as the newly wed Dr. Chase, who seemed to have everything, slipped deeper into her coma. Her husband, Robert, stayed by her side day and night and the entire hospital held its breath as her condition became worse, and then became stable. House himself was holding his breath, though he didn't want to admit it. He could still remember the time when he had called her by her surname only. Cameron...

She hated sports metaphors, that what he remembered. It was twelve hours after the accident, and he still hadn't slept. Cameron liked babies, but cared too much about older patients. She wanted to fix things, or so he had thought. When she said that she 'liked' him, it was more than just a crush. He had seen that- Cameron didn't have school girl crushes. When she found someone, he was all for her. The hell she had gone through just to move on after him, and then to find Chase. When she had resigned, it had been like a slap in the face.

What scared him the most was the fact that the memories of her were fading. Whether it be his own mind, or just the fact that she was no longer always there to remind him, the memories were leaving him as quickly as her condition was deteriorating. He found himself in her room more often than not, just going in to stroke her cheek and remind himself of what she looked like. House could remember the stories, the time when she made friends with a patient and then had to tell her that she had cancer. The many times she'd kissed him, though she'd always had another agenda there.

"It's unlike him to care," that's what people were saying. Lisa Cuddy knew better as she watched House through the glass. He was changing, though he hated change himself, it was happening. There was something about Camero- excuse me, Dr. Chase, that was changing House into the man that Stacie had seen all those years ago. Pity it was too late. They said that Allison only had a couple more weeks on the respirator, then her body would be too tired to keep up even the process of her heartbeat.

Against all odds, Mrs. Chase lasted a lot longer. Months longer. Robert Chase, in his traditional way of running away, divorced his comatose wife when they started running out of money. Soon, no one was paying for Cameron's care, and that was when House started taking over. He was taking on cases all by himself, solving them, and then using the money to go towards her healthcare. The payments were high, but his salary could cover it. Cuddy offered him a raise, seeing what he was doing, but he refused. This was something he had to do himself.

It was for all those times he had made her cry. All the times he had teased her, whether in fun or not. All those times he had kicked her out of his office, telling her that she cared too much. And all those times when he had wanted to tell her that he loved her, and never found the courage to do so. It was the moments that he regretted, and the moments that haunted him. He couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. She was all he thought about, all he lived for. And it was enough, to be honest. Months went by, and soon, looking at his Vicodin bottle made him feel sick. She had always told him that he was nothing but a stoner, a doctor who got high on the job. "I'm in pain," he'd always reply, and she'd shake her head with a sad look in her eye.

This isn't one of the stories where the coma would make him quit- no, he was just as much of a drug-user as ever. But, it stopped him from taking his usual five. Whenever he was in serious pain, he would go into her room and stroke her hair, touch her cheek, hold her hand. Whatever it took to convince himself that taking MORE drugs wasn't the answer. It was said that coma patients could hear you when you spoke to them; House became a true believer of that. He would sit in there for hours, sometimes all night long, just talking to her about various things. His life, the job, cases that he was having trouble with; all the things that he had never shared with her when he had a chance.

They couldn't go on forever like this, House knew that. Either she would wake up, or he would forget a payment. Keeping her on lifesupport forever wasn't an option either. He gave himself a time limit, one month. One month for her to wake up, and if she didn't ...he needed to let go of her some time. House knew this. It also gave him one month to get use to the fact that she would be gone- even after he resigned, he got drunk every night thinking of how empty the hospital had felt without her.

Days went by, and he began to lose hope. It wasn't a feeling that was a stranger to him- the nurses all thought he was insane because he would go into Cameron's room and sit with his hand in his hands for hours, just murmuring, "Don't give up, keep fighting, you bitch..." and various other rude phrases. He didn't mean it, the whole hospital meant that. They had held their breath as they watched his change, thinking that perhaps this was for the better, perhaps it would stick and he would remain this 'new' House, one that they all could deal with. All of the good things about him, with less of the bad.

The last day of the month rolled around, and they all were thinking different things. Robert Chase was wondering how much this hooker cost him, as he tried to bury his troubles in casual sex with STD ridden prostitutes. Eric Foreman was thinking of how he had stolen Cameron's article, and how much he regretted it. Lisa Cuddy was on yet another blind date, refusing to see that Wilson was tagging along just incase it went badly, ("It's only a coincidence, he can't be here for me, in the SAME coffee shop, really far from the hospital..."). And Wilson, as he did, was stalking Cuddy. Go figure.

House was with her, as they all expected him to be. He held her hand, kissed her forehead and thought. The day faded, and Greg just couldn't think of why this had to happen to her. She had just gotten married to Chase, found a new job at a hospital that was ready to make her head of a department, was on her way to all she had ever wanted. How had she landed back here? He remembered the stupid case where he had kept score against God, and they had eventually tied. Tied. Perhaps that was what it was- she was tied down to her loose ends that she had left here, mainly him. House took a deep breath, and then knew what had to be said.

"Ali-oh fuck it, Cameron, I know that I never said any of this to you while you were concious," he found it hard to be formal, using his old nickname for the former 'duckling' . "And maybe I should have. But, that night at the poker thing, you looked beautiful. If you wanted my approval, you have it. You were..." His voice choked and died in his throat, as he knew it was time to let her go. "You are...the only woman that I can find it in me to love, despite all her faults."

At 12:01am, Allison Cameron passed away, with only Gregory House to hold her hand. He didn't believe in miracles, but when her heart stopped naturally, without the help of medicine, he decided that perhaps some things were out of his control. Walking slowly to his office, after kissing her for the last time, he carefully wrote on the whiteboard...

_GOD: 4  
HOUSE: 3_


	2. Alternate Ending

House was with her, as they all expected him to be. He did all he could for her in her current state- kept her lips from cracking by wetting them with ice, changing her I.V.'s, and most of all ...thinking about her. She was on his mind all day, and he prayed to the big man in the sky that he would let her live. She should have had everything- her marriage with Chase had been solid, her new job would have been the best thing that could have happened to her. She should haev been all right, but she had come back here in the end. Clearing his throat, he stroked her hand after pulling up a chair close and hanging his cane on the side of the bed. There were things that he needed to tell her about himself.

"Cameron, some people say that coma patients can hear what the people around them are saying," he explained gently before shaking his head at himself. Of course she would know that, she was a doctor. "Well, I'll say my bit. Do you remember our date? I never meant to ruin that for you, to hurt you. I got scared...because I knew that there could be something there for both of us. And so I fought back, and I wounded you. I never got over it." He took a shaky breath, surprised at his own weakness. She wasn't even concious, for gods sake. And yet he was shaking like a leaf. "There were so many times I wanted to hold you, to tell you that I loved you. Because I di- I do. To this day, to this very second, I still love you. And, I just wanted to ask, since Chase divorced you..."

"Allison Cameron, will you marry me?" As soon as the words left his lips, machines started beeping. House shut his eyes leaning back in his chair, thinking that they were telling him that she had gone into cardiac arrest. He couldn't deal with that right now, and a tear left a wet track down his face. He wiped it away hurriedly, wondering why the nurses hadn't flooded into the room as they normally would do, to try and save the woman he loved. No matter, she was going to die anyway. A million different thoughts flooded his brain, thoughts only of her and how much he had loved her. That was when a quavery voice interrupted him.

"Yes." It was her voice, it was. He could recognize it anywhere, but that was impossible. She had been in a coma for so long now, he hadn't heard it in so long. Not trusting himself to open his eyes, he felt some pressure on his hand, which was still intertwined in hers. Someone was squeezing his hand. That did it, it brought him back. His eyes shot open and he looked down at the bed. Allison Cameron was staring up at him tiredly, her eyes barely open, but boring into his. "What did you say?" he said sharply, but she just smiled at him like an angel.

"Yes," was her calm answer before she shifted her weight slightly to face him. "I will marry you."

No one knows if it was a miracle that happened that day, but Allison Cameron made a full recovery. Her injuries ceased and six months later she changed her name yet again, this time to Allison House. Chase didn't attend the wedding, but Foreman did as well as the rest of the staff from the hospital. And after the wedding, during the reception that was held at the very hospital they had met at, House slipped away to his office and wrote on the white board:

God: 3.  
House: 3.  
Love: Infinity. 


End file.
